Aubrey's shot seems to pass right through the space of a wasp, somehow just missing it.  Rohuzar, on the other hand, lashes out with his axe and separates the abdomen from the thorax of the wasp that had just stung Grugga.  The top half of the creature doesn't want to accept that it is dead, hovering for a few moments more on spasming wings, before crashing to the ground.

Two giant wasps left and Guilim and Leelan still to go this round.

Guilim readjusts himself now that the wasp is closer to him, pulling his halberd back around and moving to slash the weapon down into the insect once more.

Attack: 21 Damage: 10

Leelan pulls another arrow and releases the shot at the other wasp sandwiched between Grugga and Rohuzar.

Attack: 16 Damage: 8

Guilim chops downward, severing the head of his wasp opponent.  Leelan measures a shot and lets it fly, pinning the last wasp as it was darting in to try to sting Rohuzar again.  The wasps are down.  Spastic wings still beat in a frenzy.  Bzzzz.....Bzzzz....Brp.  And then it is quiet, the only sounds are the faint breeze through the trees and the waves lapping on the nearby beach.

Out of initiative.

Rohuzar gives Grugga a quick once over before advancing on the scene. He’s going to check the bodies and the shack for anything of interest, especially as it relates to the courier who was killed. He keeps his axe at the ready, moving slow and with the group to keep them from getting separated. 

investigation 20 

Rohuzar leads the group on a cautious survey of the grounds.  

The skeleton corpse is wearing dark robes and it is outfitted with a shield and a short metal baton (a type of club).  An arrow is lodged in the back of its skull, the point protruding out of one of the empty eye sockets.

The rotted corpse is foul to behold.  It too is wrapped in dark robes, but it looks to have been dead for some time... a week or more.  The wasps had mangled the body and any cause of death is hard to determine... though the body shows ligature marks around the throat.  It is similar to what a hanged man might look like, though that doesn't make sense in this setting.  Also, its left hand is mangled, bound in barbed wire, flesh-crafted into an awful spiked club.

The last pile of clothing does not have a body.  There are rich crimson robes, of much finer quality than the cheap garb that was on the other bodies.  The robes are stained darker in places with blood and their are holes in the robes... perhaps from arrows?  But the arrows are gone.

The hut has clearly been abandoned for some time.  The roof is intact but starting to leak in places.  There are fresh ashes in the small iron stove.  Someone has camped here recently.

For an abandoned coastal shack, there are a surprising amount of prints and tracks.

(Those are good roles for investigation.  How about everyone asks me a question or two about what is here?  What are you looking for?  What are you going to focus on trying to figure out?)

Rohuzar is interested if the arrow matches that of the ranger

"Are you okay there Grugga?" Aubrey says glancing over at the artificer as he approaches the corpses. "Disgusting." He mutters as he passes the dead insects.
Aubrey tries to figure out more about the corpses, like if any of them possibly were animated before ending up like this, crouching down by each corpse and using his telekinesis to carefully investigate the crime scene.
Perception: 17 Investigation: 16 Medicine: 19 Survival: 7

 Guilim will look for any signs of things being left behind from the person that had camped there. 

Rohuzar examines the arrow sticking out of the skeletons skull.  It is cracked along the shaft and looks like someone may have tried to retrieve it... but it is stuck fast.  From what you can see, this looks to be of the same make as the arrow you were shown back in the Rare Earth Materials offices.

Aubrey notices that Grugga has a nasty looking stinger wound on his leg.  It looks a bit like a fleshy volcano, with swelling in the tissue surrounding the wound.  But Grugga seems to be walking it off.  Aubrey spends a long time (based on the many different rolls, I am assuming Aubrey devotes most of his time here to exploring every possible avenue of investigation with regard to these corpses) examining the dead bodies from all different angles and comes to several conclusions:

• The skeleton was a skeleton when it arrived here.  While it was wearing footwraps, you can see its tracks which are as fresh as the rest of the tracks here.  There is no spell you know of that could have blasted away all the meat from its bones without harming the skeleton.  The obvious conclusion is that this was an animated undead.
• The other corpse is harder to sort out.  It looks to have been dead 7-10 days.  You cannot say for certain, but this battle scene looks more recent than that.  Based on the ligature marks and the mutilation of one of its hands into a crude weapon - and the skeleton next to it - your best guess is that this was a reanimated zombie or similar undead.  You also locate an arrow head broken off from its shaft and lodged in the ribcage, exposed by the foraging of the wasps.
• The pile of clothes most likely belonged to a third, absent body.  Within the crimson robes you find a component pouch.  Inside are two copper coins, a packet of salt, a packet of bone dust, a slice of dried flesh, a stick of incense and a vial of blood.  Last, there are tracks leading away from these robes... not toward the boats but right to the edge and into the water, heading north / northwest.

Guilim enters the shack and explores.  He can see where someone gathered the remaining soft materials in the hut and made a makeshift bed in the corner. He also locates marks on the floor and wall where someone had jammed the doors and windows closed.  The stove is also full of fresh ashes where someone lit a fire to warm things up.  It can't be more than 4 to 6 days old.  The single room also shows signs of being tossed.  There are are many different sets of prints, all recent.  The bedding, cabinets, and the pantry are all in disarray.  It looks like someone was already through here looking for something.

As Guilim is leaving he hears a creak in one of the floor boards under his feet.  Remembering some old hidey holes he's uncovered in the past, he feels around and is able to pry up a board.  It is dusty a cobwebbed inside... no one has been into this space in years.  Inside he finds an alms box containing 15 silver pieces and a pearl.

Leelan goes over to one of the wasp’s remains. He begins studying the creature in the details: the mandibules, the legs, the wings, the stinger, etc. He takes notes of the things he’s able to ascertain.

Investigation (I’m rolling because I feel like this isn’t related to the crime scene investigation roll. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong):  19

When finished with his crime scene investigation Aubrey informs the others of his findings. "This component pouch indicates a spell caster, likely a necromancer, with some minions in a battle with at least one of the carcerimon. I would guess they were all after that object the courier transported. This necromancer might also have been the one that withered the couriers hand. I'm not sure how much this helps us but it seems clear that there are many interested parties in this story." Aubrey finishes and looks to the others for thoughts.

Arcana regarding contents in pouch: 15

Grugga would like to help Aubrey with his arcana check.

He will otherwise focus his investigation on the abandoned boat.

Once he limps back to the party and they all reconvene, Grugga will consider what happened, "So a necromancer came looking for the courier... but it wasn't mentioned in the journal, so it was probably after she had left. The ranger probably killed the undead and the necromancer presumably got away. The... um... non-skeletal corpse is relatively recent and looks like he was hanged. We should ask around and find out if there were any hangings in the last week or two - that might lead us to the necromancer. Or maybe we don't need the necromancer at all because the ranger has the package... hmmm.... it's enough to make the mind whir. What do you all think?"

”I don’t believe it is big leap to say that the carcerimon rangers came hunting for undead cultist. It is same hand on undead creation as courier’s mangled hand. Now ve know. Not sure vhat to make of tracks leading into the vater… vaater. Wot. Er.” Rohuzar gets frustrated trying to get past his accent and grunts. “Ve keep moving. Good job. Everybody.” 

Leelan, you are disturbed to see that even in death, the abdomen muscles of the wasp still contract and attempt to sting when the body is disturbed.  This isn't uncommon in standard-sized wasps, but it is never the less unnerving to see a six inch long stinger probing the air.  In many ways these creatures are identical to the common continental wasp (or 'yellowjacket' as the peasants call them), just sized up.  You also learn that their poison is not a necrotic, like in common wasps, but is actually a paralytic.  (Leelan can add the giant wasp to his bestiary if it isn't already on there)

Grugga, after helping Aubrey study the contents of the component pouch, you walk down the dock to the smaller vessel moored there.  It looks like it could accommodate a few travelers but it has much less room than the fishing boat you arrived on.  The deck is free of clutter and the sail and riggings are tied up and secure.  There is a small cabin below deck.  Someone has ransacked it.  Also there is signs of a fire and there is a lot of water down here.  It looks as though someone piled some books and other materials and set it alight.  The pile of material burned and it seems to have compromised the hull, but leaking water put it out before it could sink completely.  Water continues to slowly leak in... you suspect in another day or two this vessel will sink to the bottom of this little cove.

You notice something else, Grugga.  Tracks lead to and from the dock.  One horse, and four humanoid sets of prints depart the dock for the shore; and one horse and one set of humanoid prints return to the dock.

Keeping tabs on the conversation, Leelan seems to remember something. 

"This might be a superfluous detail, but I think I remember the innkeeper from Midway saying that the ranger who assaulted the courrier was after a reliquary. It would probably make sense for a necromancer to come after this sort of artifact."

Going back to the wasp, Leelan turns his head to Grugga.

"Pardon me, my friend. Would you perhaps have some vials left from your earlier purchase? I’m wondering the relevance of harvesting the toxin from the insects’ stingers."

"Of course, Leelan. I still have..." he begins counting the vials in his pack, "Nearly a dozen. Take as many as you need."

"Yes they are all likely after that crystal eagle skull that the courier was transporting, which well might be some necromantic relic." Aubrey responds to Leelan as he hands the pouch to Grugga to investigate. Aubrey then readies himself to move on.

(OOC: Thanks for help action Rockchewer but Aubrey thinks Grugga likely knows more about spell components :-)

Guilim will close the box, setting into his pack for the time being before going to join the others. "So we have a lot more to deal with then just a murderous Ranger. I do not know much about the dark magic like that but I was always taught to either avoid it or destroy any signs of it."

Leelan sets down to try to extract and bottle some of the venom from the wasp carcasses.  

Roll a survival check DC 15.  

On a failure, you’re not able to preserve any venom.

On a success, roll 1d4 - 1 and you are able to collect that many half liter flasks of wasp venom.  

If you succeed by greater than 5 on the survival check, roll 1d4 + 1 instead and you collect that many flasks.

(And with that are we done at the hut?)